"Sparking Creativity" - Living Smart Video Reaction

"SPARKING CREATIVITY" - How to apply Dr. Raul Cuero's concepts to everyday life...

I just finished watching an episode of "Living Smart" with Patricia Gras. In this episode (Sparking Creativity), Patricia Gras interviews Renowned Microbiologist, Dr. Raul Cuero. Dr. Cuero's roots stem back to Colombia where he was raised in a very poor uneducated family near the docks. His drive and zeal for life are quite remarkable. He has overcome social, economic, and educational barriers in becoming an esteemed multilingual microbiologist. Dr. Cuero’s life is quite remarkable, as is his willingness to share his thoughts on creativity, and academic pursuit.

According to Dr. Cuero, the “Intellectual Culture in Academia” has been on a decline in the United States. There seems to be an epidemic of negative attitudes towards academic pursuit. Today’s generation is looking for school to train them for a specific job that already exists. Dr. Cuero would suggest that students should attend school to be intellectually challenged and to engage in intellectual activities that spark creativity and imagination in order to be better equipped to recognize and solve problems. This sort of activity and engagement is crucial in an academic setting.

Dr. Cuero says, “Ideas emerge from interaction with other ideas”. In order to foster an environment for creativity to emerge, we must set it up to include communication and interaction. A successful academic environment would also provide opportunities for students to observe, recognize, and practice problem solving without limitation to an abundance of parameters. Dr. Cuero believes, “You can not plan creativity”. He talks about “discovering creativity” and “…moving beyond expectations and doing something that others don’t know you can do.” An environment where both students and teachers encourage innovation and creative problem solving is essential to the creative process in academia.

After hearing Dr. Cuero's words, I'm inspired to incorporate a few of his ideas into my everyday life. The first being to spend a bit more time in nature. As Dr. Cuero says, "Everything comes from Nature". For me, I see this as being an opportunity to quiet the noise of everyday life and observe the finer details that are so often hurried past. It's also an opportunity to contemplate ideas and to allow them to develop. Dr. Cuero spoke of creativity as a process with many steps. An integral part of the process is allowing "ideas (to) emerge from interaction with other ideas". I can see this bouncing of ideas happening in my own head, or through conversations and interaction with others in my daily living. Setting up the right environment is crucial to fostering an academic culture where creativity can exist.

Dr. Cuero says, "You cannot plan creativity". Inside the four walls of an intuition of higher learning, we feel ourselves being pulled in several directions all at once. On one side, we have to be analytical and detailed when justifying curriculum and the methods used to teach. On another, we have to present problems that are incomplete along with vague information, to allow opportunities for creative problem solving and new solutions to emerge. Above all, we must practice a sense of balance in life to achieve “Mental, Physical & Spiritual Fulfilment.”